Casual Ultra and Copa90 - A Weekend with SC Cambuur

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The derby between SC Cambuur and SC Heerenveen is considered the most heated in the Netherlands. It’s a battle between the Dutch and the Frisians who do not want to be associated with each other.

Holland is divided in 12 provinces, one of them is called Friesland. In Friesland there are two clubs playing in the Eredivisie, SC Cambuur and SC Heerenveen. SC Heerenveen is located in, as you might have guessed, Heerenveen. In this town they mostly speak the Frisian language which isn’t an official language but a lot of people in Friesland use the language. The Heerenveen supporters are proud of their language, their flag and they even play their own national anthem at the start of every match.

SC Cambuur is located in the capital of Friesland, Leeuwarden. In comparison to SC Heerenveen, the Cambuur supporters use the Dutch language like the rest of Holland and they hate the Frisian language. The supporters even have a banner saying “Anti Fries”, which means anti Frisian. The hate between the two clubs runs deep. In Leeuwarden they won’t even pronounce the name SC Heerenveen but call it DKV, Dertig Kilometer Verderop. In English translated “thirty kilometers away”, which is the distance between the two clubs.

This derby is one of the best matches in the Eredivisie with an unbelievable atmosphere booming out of Cambuur’s 10,000 capacity of the stadium in account. The last training ahead of the derby is a sight to behold, as the stadium fills to near capacity to inspire their players. On match day, Cambuur’s main supporters group, Cambuur Culture, host a massive corteo, setting their sleepy city alight! In the game, both Cambuur and Heerenveen supporters, put on a show with choreographies, and a massive banner on the north stand.

Although this fixture does not include blockbuster clubs like Ajax and Feyenoord, many in Holland feel that this is the best derby in the country. It falls in the tradition of derbies like Real Madrid – Barca, or Celtic – Rangers, where the tension between the two factions of supporters is older than the game itself, and is routed in cultural history.

Together with Copa90 we followed the Cambuur supporters in their derby weekend, watch the Copa90 video below!